Beginning Saturday, walkers, hikers and bicyclists will be able to take advantage of the newest extension of the Riverwalk that runs from the pedestrian bridge at Garden Street to the Fremont Campus of Pueblo Community College.

Cañon City Engineer Adam Lancaster said the gate at the bridge will open so pedestrians can follow the path that goes under the railroad tracks, under Tunnel Drive and to the driveway of the Fremont Campus.

The project to extend the Riverwalk from Black Bridge to the college has been in the works for five to eight years, Lancaster said. Tezak Heavy Equipment Co., Inc. was the contractor on the project, and Alpine Fencing erected a fence along part of the trail and the water treatment pond.

Part of the project was paid for through FASTER funds (Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation & Economic Recovery) through a $500,000 Colorado Department of Transportation grant; $500,000 from a Great Outdoors Colorado grant; $100,000 from the late Darryl Biggerstaff; the John Nichols Memorial fund, Fremont County and the Cañon City Area Recreation and Park District also contributed the project.

"The reason we got the CDOT money is because pedestrians were coming around Soda Point," Lancaster said. "There is no place to walk there and no place to cross the five-lane highway."

After Saturday, the yellow gates at each end of the segment will be closed during maintenance and high water.

Advertisement

"During high water conditions, this trail will be unusable just like the one at Ninth Street; not as often as Ninth Street, but we have had some flash floods this past year," Lancaster said. "This is a drainage way — when we get a flash flood, it will flood and make a mess so we'll have to close the trail periodically to get it cleaned up."

Another segment that splits off on Tunnel Drive will have a crosswalk just past the "haul road" that is used by Tezak's quarry and the City Water Department. The segment leading up to the Tunnel Drive Trailhead is expected to be completed by the end of July when the city will have a grand opening to celebrate the completion of both sections.

Lancaster said it's possible to extend the Riverwalk Trail even further.

"At a lot of planning meetings I've been part of, it's been talked about connecting to the Royal Gorge," Lancaster said. "Now that the core trail is complete, we can focus on extensions to other areas like the Hogbacks or other trails in the trail Master Plan, and we can focus on making this part better."

The city invites volunteer groups to paint the canopy structure below the railroad tracks and the graffiti in the pedestrian tunnel. Those volunteers and individuals interested in purchasing a bench for the trail may call Parks Foreman Rex Brady at 269-9028.